Table Games Playing a lot of blackjack hands

at my local casino, if there is no one else at the table you are allowed to play as many hands as you want as long as you bet at least $50/hand, if I decided to play the entire table instead of a single spot, How would that affect my variance, Also How many hands per hour would I realistically play from playing 9 spots?

 

9 spots????? How big are those local tables, lol. Well, if you truly can play nine spots, you are likely going to be rated around 600 hands an hour. Playing that many spots doesn't affect the variance. Playing every spot, you will get all the advantages of good shoes and all of the downside of bad shoes. The varince is based on the game and its rules, not the number of spots played.

 

It absolutely affects the variance. It decreases it significantly and the games played much more closely align to the statistical norm (EV = -0.4% to -0.75% in 3/2 Blackjack depending on the other rules). This is why many casinos have the "double-double" rule - that you can play two spots if you double the table minimum bet.

But remember... "Winning" is variance. Positive variance, to be specific. So the closer you align your "as-played" results to the statistical norm, the more you remove the possibility of winning from happening.

It's been eons since I've played it, but Atlantic City used to have a digital version of this. You would play a 7-handed table against a common dealer hand. All 7 bets had to have the same starting wager and then you could double/split as appropriate.

 

Well, you're correct. I think I took the OP's post too literally. Playing mroe hands does not effect the variance. The variance (and co-variance) are set by the game rules. But playing more hands obviously can impact how closely your results align with the expected returns

 

Depends what you mean by "affects variance".

Do you mean spreading the stake you were going to bet anyway? Playing 5 hands at once at $50 stake each vs betting 1 hand at $250 stake = massively less variance per unit staked.
Do you mean quickening your rate of play? Playing 5 hands at once at $50 stake each vs playing 5 hands at $50 stake but each one against a separate dealer hand = massively more variance per unit staked.

 

I was also curious about how much it would slow down the game to play all 9 spots, I know that if I am playing heads up with one hand the game goes very very fast, but with 9 spots I think the game would slow significantly. would the casino still count my average wager as the total of all the hands or would they lower it because I was playing the whole table and they get much less hands per hour?

 

The big challenge if you play all the spots at the table is the idiot at 3rd base still has to make the right play

 

Do you curse at yourself for hitting the 12 on that dealer's 6?

 

Best post of the day